Sleeping With Ghosts
by coldqueen
Summary: A series of ten drabbles, set in memorable Danny/Lindsay episodes. Second, "Manhattan Manhunt".
1. Catharsis

**Title: **Catharsis

**Genre:** Television

**Series: **CSI:NY

**Characters: **Lindsay Monroe

**Spoilers: **3x03-Zoo York

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:** It's her first day in New York City, and she can already feel her wings unfurling.

**Author's Note:** This was written for the challenge community 10_quotes, so there will be a total of ten drabbles in this series. Will be a Danny/Lindsay theme overall.

**Word Count:** 350

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**Quote: **_Schindler's List_- "Today is history. Today will be remembered. Years from now the young will ask with wonder about this day. Today is history and you are a part of it."

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She arrived at Newark International Airport just after midnight so her first sight of the infamous Gotham City was only the impression of lights in the distance. The air outside the building was thick and hazy, giving the lights the illusion of dancing. The sight made Lindsay's lips curl with mirth despite the exhaustion and irritation that clung to her like a second skin. Between the hassle of packing all her things, arranging storage over two thousand miles, and finding a place to stay until she'd gotten settled; Lindsay had been more than pushed to her breaking point.

This view, the dancing lights and salty air with the bitter tang of pollution, made it all worth it. Lindsay Monroe, New York crime scene investigator, and didn't it have a nice ring to it? It wasn't Lindsay Monroe, only survivor of the deadliest act of violence in Bozeman history. It wasn't Lindsay Monroe, girl with a chip on her shoulder determined to find out the reason why those things happened.

This was a risk for her, bigger than she'd ever gambled before. After the events in the diner all those years ago she'd lost the sense of safety home had provided. It'd been a child's foolish belief that nothing could touch or harm them, not so close to family, so close to home.

This new place though, New York City, it could be her new home if she wanted. She could find in the anonymity of this large city the sense of safety that she'd lost so easily at the hands of a stranger.

Lindsay Monroe could feel it in her bones. Today was history for her, and she would remember it. She would remember her first vision of the city, remember the taste of the air, and remember the feeling of being completely and utterly insignificant. Today was the beginning of a new life for her, and New York City was a big part of it. No more watching her late friends' parents slowly crack under the pressure of vacant space, no more whispers both condemning and pitying, just...no more.

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Review, please.


	2. Vacillation

**Title: **Vacillation

**Genre: **Television

**Series:** CSI:NY

**Characters:** Lindsay Monroe

**Spoilers: **2x07-_Manhattan Manhunt_

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Before Danny could make her understand Mac's actions, Lindsay has a brief moment of reflection.

**Word Count: **350

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**Quote: **_Chinatown-_"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of...anything!"

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Lindsay had lived through situations on both ends of the spectrum; she'd steeled herself against the corrosion of evil, and broken down in the grace of humanity's goodness. It said a lot about her that for a career choice she'd decided to face the darkness again and again, attempting to build up a wall around herself that no amount of depravity could breach.

When Mac sent her away from the crime scene, banishing her to the sterile neutral ground of the lab, it felt like all her attempts at building that wall had been for naught. Mac was one of few who knew her past, every analyzed and cataloged detail, and if he had no faith in her then could she rightly have faith in herself?

The lab's lights were ridiculously bright, glaring off of the shiny surfaces of every machine and reflecting dully from the tables' surfaces. Lindsay closed her eyes against the onslaught and balanced on the edge of the counter, her fingers gripping the edge tightly enough that even rounded off it cut into her hands. Her face was smooth, no lines or tenseness to indicate the mental bombardment of memories that the sight of all those young people lying dead on the floor had flooded her consciousness with. Anyone looking in through the glass walls would see a professional crime scene technician waiting for evidence to arrive so that she could begin her job.

Her job hadn't started in New York or even back in Bozeman, Montana. It'd started in the restroom of a small diner. It'd started with a senseless crime. Mac could doubt her ability to handle herself, but Lindsay decided she would not. She'd gone through too much to let that happen. Most people never had to face the fact that at the right time and place they're capable of anything. They're capable of cowardice, of heroism, of murder, of apathy.

The little girl hiding beneath the porcelain sink and listening to the thunder of gunshots can even grow up. Lindsay couldn't forget, but she could put it away and do her job.

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Review, please.


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